Suddenly, Kory found himself standing at a busy intersection. It was one of those intersections where it seemed like everyone in the entire world was there all at once. Kory did not recognize one single soul. He was in the biggest crowd he had ever seen, and yet he was so very alone.
The Hooded figure appeared before him. It wasn’t even as though he had fumbled his way through the crowd to be in front of Kory. It was just one moment strangers, and then, BAM! Crazy business card guy from the subway the day before.
“Hello, Kory.” The Voice said.
“Hello, …you…” Kory stammered.
“My name is Oedipus.” The voice explained.
“Do you miss your mom or something?” Kory asked.
“I was proudly given that name.” Oedipus said. “It is a source of strength and power.”
“Not from the stories I’ve heard.” Kory mumbled.
“Do you want to finally lead an interesting life or not?” Oedipus asked firmly.
“Hey, of course I do. You’re in charge.” Kory said.
“Thank you.” Oedipus said. “First thing, I want is for you to take a look at your surroundings. Take everything in.”
Kory took in everything the city had to offer him in that moment.
“Keep your eyes open for a shifty looking guy. A member of one of the local gangs is going to deposit a large amount of money into the bank on this corner. I need you, as a test of loyalty and general competence, to pick pocket his debit card and bring it back here to me.” Oedipus said.
“Seems pretty simple for a spy thing.” Kory deadpanned. “Couldn’t we just get the bank to put a stop on the deposit?” Kory asked.
“We could, but we wouldn’t learn as much about their organization that way. If we have that seemingly simple little card in our posession instead of theirs, we can analize it and learn more about them as a whole.” Oedipus explained. “The whole purpose of WRAITH is for our agents to get as close to the bad guys as possible without being detected in the slightest. If you can get under his or her skin, all the better. Putting a stop on a deposit like this would expose our entire organization. There are no petty assignments here.”
“Alright, I’m going to go get you your card.” Kory said. “I think I see him.”
Kory slunk through the crowd. Spotting a lone man climbing the stairs to the most reputable bank in the city, Kory took a wild guess and swiped everything in the man’s back right pocket. He ran back to Oedipus with a shot of adrenaline he had never experienced before.
“Here’s the wallet, sir.” Kory said. “The whole wallet.” It was one of those new, thin, expensive, metal ones that people keep raving about.
“Excellent work.” Oedipus said.
It was the first time Kory had ever received a complement on anything he had ever accomplished.
Suddenly there was that blinding light again. Oedipus was spiriting them away to wherever the next place was on their journey together. Kory had no idea where they could possibly be going now. He was along for the adventure. One thing was for sure. He was going to stick around long enough to learn how to do that blinding teleportation thing.